Alexandria, VA – The film offerings the last few weeks have been one horror after another. How desperate are filmmakers that screenwriter Kevin Williamson upcycled his 1996 OG hit Scream for a third time? Were we really ready for Ready Or Not 2? Fortunately, Ryan Gosling’s more lighthearted screamology takes us to the far reaches of outer space where you can in fact hear him scream.
Gosling Goes for the Gold
Project Hail Mary is the hottest release of the year and the most successful spring film drop since Ryan Coogler’s April 2025 Sinners and his February 2018 Black Panther. With a record-breaking $140.9 million worldwide at the box office opening weekend, the sci-fi super sleeper scored the biggest March opening for a non-franchise film. And a record debut for Amazon’s Amazon/MGM studios.
When At Z MovieZ purchased tickets at the theater, there was a ten-minute wait to print them out. The manager explained the film was so popular that the system was overloaded. So what’s the big deal?
Ryan Gosling is a three-time Oscar nominated actor (Half Nelson in 2006, La La Land in 2016, and Barbie in 2023) whose everyman charisma can be attributed to an understated suave subtlety pervading his performances. More Bogart and Cooper or even a brooding Brando than Cruise, DiCaprio, or Bale. Much like Leo and Christian, Ryan was a child star, getting his big break with The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993.
What’s It All About, Rocky?
Project Hail Mary is based upon the 2021 hard science fiction novel by Andy Weir. Hard sci-fi emphasizes scientific accuracy and advocates more immersive serious science with greater technical detail. Don’t let that turn you off. The story provides ample anthropomorphic character development à la ET. In short, Ryan Gosling is science teacher Ryland Grace who, while in outer space light years from Earth, encounters an alien he names Rocky with whom an unexpectedly profound friendship develops.
The screenplay by Drew Goddard delivers laughs and tears. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller bring a gust of spring air offering much-needed relief from déjà-view all over again horror and never-ending dynastic dystopian fantasies. Lord and Miller are best known for the Spider-Verse and The Lego Movie. This is their first foray directing live-action mega hits in 12 years.
To See or Not to See ~ That Is Not the Question!
Filmed old-school style, the cinematography employed a hybrid CGI (computer-generated imagery) approach, prioritizing practical sets and animatronic puppetry while eschewing green screens entirely. Project Hail Mary is also AI-free.
Look out Dune: Part Three. There’s a new socko sci-fi contender in Tinseltown come next awards season. Gosling is destined to be Academy Award-nominated for a fourth time. Project Hail Mary will be overloading the line, running a blitz come Oscar time.
In a world at war, with film after film depicting a narrative of discontent and destruction, Project Hail Mary renders a kinder, gentler antidote of humanity and hope. It’s indisputably a game-winning touchdown pass following a 70-yard field goal – the first must-see movie of 2026.
Project Hail Mary may actually prove to help make Hollywood great again. Don’t wait to stream it. Experience the movie in IMAX if you can. You’ll thank us later.
